Act I
Act I of five in the Kentucky Route Zero story introduces Conway and Shannon to their journey. It was released on January 7, 2013. Summary Equus Oils Act I begins with Conway pulling up to Equus Oils. He meets Joseph, the owner, who sits outside in a Queen Anne armchair. Joseph gives Conway's hound some jerky, and the player chooses the dog's name. Conway tells Joseph that he has a delivery for 5 Dogwood Drive, and Joseph explains that he will have to take the Zero to find it. He suggests Conway use the computer to find the address of Weaver Márquez, a friend of his who knows how to get there. Unfortunately, the power company has shut off Joseph's power, and Conway must first turn on the generator in the station's basement. Joseph gives him a lantern to light the way. In the basement, Conway finds Emily, Ben, and Bob, who sit at a card table playing a tabletop game and blocking the way to the generator. They ignore him, apparently unable to see or hear him. Overhearing that they've lost a glow-in-the-dark die, Conway manages to find it with the lantern turned off, in a passage to the lower left. When he returns, the three players have disappeared. Conway starts up the generator and returns outside. If Conway tells Joseph about the people he saw, Joseph dismisses the idea, but notes that strange things happen in the dark. Conway uses the computer and finds directions to the Márquez Farmhouse (north on the 65, turn left at the burning tree), along with several emails. As Conway leaves, Joseph mentions that he's put Weaver's old TV in the back of Conway's truck and asks that Conway return it to her. At this point, Conway is free to drive the roads of Kentucky and encounter a variety of hidden locations and characters. The Márquez Farmhouse Conway pulls up to a dirt road and climbs the hill to the farmhouse, where he meets Weaver. She knows that Joseph sent him for directions to the Zero, and asks Conway to set up the TV. Once it is set up, the screen shows an image of a cave. Weaver complains that Conway has set it up incorrectly. Conway then zones out for a moment at the barn out back. Although Weaver would rather Conway find her cousin, Shannon Márquez, and fix her TV, she tells him that he can find an on-ramp to the Zero by heading north on the 65 and passing the artificial limb factory. When Conway looks away from the screen, Weaver has vanished. Upon heading back down to the truck, Emily, Ben, and Bob can be seen and heard playing "You've Got to Walk" in the foreground. Elkhorn Mine Conway pulls up to Elkhorn Mine. Though skeptical that the mine would be an onramp, he walks inside. Shannon stands in the entryway to the mine, on the phone with someone about a looming eviction. As she hangs up, Conway approaches. He explains his predicament. Shannon then reveals that she encountered Weaver earlier that evening, and that Weaver told Shannon to come to the mine and "find something she was looking for." The two head into the mine and Shannon has Conway make noise into the PA system in order to judge the depth, width, and air quality of the tunnels. During the last test, the reverberation causes the roof of the mine to collapse onto Conway, mangling his leg. Shannon manages to free him and get him onto the old tram system used by miners when the mine was operational. When they drive the tram to the center, Shannon informs Conway that the mine flooded at one point, killing many miners trapped inside. They explore the mine and see apparitions of the dead miners in the flickering sparks thrown off the tram wires. At the end of one mine passage, they come to a stage which Shannon explains was used by folk song archivists for recording the songs miners would sing. The archivists luckily escaped the flooding. After exploring, they reach the exit. Shannon leaves Conway in order to explore a tunnel they couldn't previously due to the track being broken. In the dark depths she discovers piles and piles of helmets of the deceased miners. Conway leaves the mine and discovering a small shack outside near his truck. He finds three notebooks which belonged to Weaver's parents who Shannon informs him, upon returning from the tunnel, were the archivists working with the miners. She insinuates that her parents drowned in the flooding but doesn't tell Conway about finding the helmets. The Márquez Farmhouse Once they return to the Márquez Farmhouse, Shannon repairs the TV. The Márquez barn then disappears, replaced by the cave previously seen on the screen -- the on-ramp to the Zero. Conway and Shannon drive into the mouth of the cave. Equus Oils, Again (Optional) At any time before the last visit to the Márquez Farmhouse, Conway may return to Equus Oils. There, he meets James Carrington, who is searching for a venue. Conway may infer that he means a venue for a band or for shiftier circumstances. Briefly offended, Carrington explains that he is a playwright and means to debut a play. He explains the sort of mood that he wants to set, and asks that Conway keep an eye out for venues for him. Characters ;Main characters : * Conway * Shannon Márquez ;Supporting cast : * James Carrington * Joseph Wheatree * Weaver Márquez Locations ;Main locations : * Equus Oils * Elkhorn Mine * Márquez Farmhouse ;Optional overworld locations & encounters : * Bait Shop / Shannon's Workshop * Museum * Church (Light of the Last Great Awakening Baptist Church) * Diner * Barren River Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation (RECC) * Burning Tree * Artificial Limb Factory * Dragonflies (Three Locations) * Guitar Player * Men Pushing Airplane Soundtrack Track list for [http://benbabbitt.bandcamp.com/album/kentucky-route-zero-act-i Act I soundtrack]: # The Stars Drop Away (Equus Oils) − 04:29 # Ghosts in the Static (Márquez Farm) − 03:28 # You've Got to Walk (the Bedquilt Ramblers) − 02:19 # Animal Bones (Exit) − 02:30 Development and references Reception * GameRankings: 84/100http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/697038-kentucky-route-zero-act-i/index.html * Metacritic: 81/100http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/kentucky-route-zero---act-i External links * Act I analysis by Magnus Hildebrandt Notes and references Category:Acts